Saratoga Square

NYCHA HOUSING PORTFOLIO
Brooklyn, NY

The Saratoga Square landscape serves the residents of its 251 apartments as well as the Community Senior Center located on the ground floor. In the redesign for this public housing site, JPLA had two main strategies: to remove existing physical and visual barriers to access, and to create an open landscape with a variety of spaces within. The design creates a clear hierarchy of  accessible entrances, secure boundaries around the site, and an open campus that allows free movement and access to active and quiet spaces.  A significant part of the design focuses on the main Saratoga Avenue entrance,  where a monumental stair and accessible ramps lead to terraces adjacent to this building entrance. Here, one can sit and gather with neighbors and look out to Saratoga Park across the street.  The landscape for the site includes extensive native and adaptive planting, a mix of paving, seating areas, the preservation of a mature bosque of Linden trees, raised community garden beds, and an interior garden courtyard. With new floor to ceiling windows and access points on the courtyard, the interior courtyard is a peaceful place to gather for both the residents and members of the Community Senior Center.  A simple graphic of organic-shaped planting beds surrounded by paving is a beautiful sight to view from the apartments on floors above.

CLIENT: Triborough Preservation LLC
COLLABORATORS: OCV Architects, GDS NY